Money in Politics: Are the Citizens Losing?
Making life worse?
We are having all kinds of issues with money in politics. In South Dakota, we have the lobbyists and the hidden grift.
Lobbyists are listed with the Secretary of State, so we can track the money. Sometimes the taxpayers are paying the lobbyists’ salaries directly, like Mr. Monson, the lobbyist for the public school administrators (whose job is to make sure we continue wasting $1.6 billion per year on public schools that fail to educate our kids). Other times the lobbyists are paid with corporate profits or non-profit proceeds.
While paid lobbyists occasionally push for things that are in line with the wishes of the voters, they are often supporting industries or big money agendas that only benefit a small number of people.
To get legislators to vote the way they wish, these lobbyists threaten to have their organizations support competing candidates. Politicians become so worried about getting re-elected they cave to the pressure. They support causes that they would not normally support or kill bills that would make life better for the majority of the people in the state.
The hidden grift is harder to trace. There is nothing official. Here is how the game works. Political figures want to build war chests for future runs, so they make sure big donors are “rewarded”. For example, they could significantly pad a budget on a state project and make sure their donors get “contracts and profits.” This is what appears to be happening with the prison in Lincoln County. The unspoken rule is that the contract winners grease the palms of the politician with campaign donations during the next election cycle. This also occurs with things like Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Developers approach the city about making an area a TIF and then collect direct handouts for the construction. In the next election cycle, they add to the coffers of the politicians.
One has to wonder what the solution might be? Should we prohibit paid lobbyists? Should we restrict donations to politicians? Or should we just expose the crookedness?
South Dakota Voices Response: Bryan, thank you for joining the discussion and sharing your concerns.
Email comment from BK: "Yes...millionaire MAGA loyalist Toby Doeden has a war chest of throw away candidates who he bought and paid them the bring extreme legislation like HB 1201 too the table and to try to do away with a functioning medical cannabis program that works for South Dakota. He makes these young politicians look like fools at his own expense...all in the interest of hoping that they will accept his $$ for the next election. I've been saying it for many years. We need $$ out of politics completely."
Money in politics is a huge problem. When incumbents have millions of dollars it is very hard to defeat them. The worst thing that ever happened was the Supreme Court decision on citizens united. It allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in races which gives an advantage to corporations over the regular citizen. When billionaires like Elon Musk can set up their own pack with millions of their own money and steer that pac money to one candidate it buys them a lot of influence. There should be a limit on what candidates can spend. Give each candidate the same budget and see who can run the better campaign- it will give you an idea how they can manage a budget